- The White House was swarmed by pro-Palestine protestors on Saturday evening
- Anti-Semitic graffiti was sprayed on buildings in Washington DC
- Activists tried to climb the White House gate chanting ‘f*** Joe Biden’
Furious pro-Palestine protestors climbed the White House fence and chanted ‘f*** Joe Biden‘ as thousands descended on Washington DC to demonstrate against the US government’s support for Israel.
Upwards of 100,000 people flocked to the nation’s capital as a day of pro-Palestine protests erupted across the globe, resulting in several disturbing anti-Semitic incidents.
Graffiti reading ‘death to Israel’ and ‘glory to our martyrs’ was sprayed on buildings near the Israeli Embassy, according to images shared by the embassy on X.
Controversial chant, ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ rang out throughout the protests, while a Hezbollah flag was spotted flying in the masses showing support for the terrorist organization.
The massive gathering is the latest demonstration against Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, which has so far killed for than 9,250 people according to the state’s health ministry.
Protestors stretched a banner across the White House fence reportedly reading ‘Stop attacks on Gaza’, which led the Secret Service to tear the sign down in a move that sparked fury among the mob.
Chants of ‘Allahu akbar’ were hard as the protest marched through the city, as red hand prints were later seen pressed onto walls near the presidential residence.
Before reaching the White House, a huge crowd of protestors filled the streets of DC on a route that stretched past numerous landmarks near the Capitol.
Images after the protestors moved through showed a number of historical statues, including desecrating the statue of American Revolutionary War hero General Marquis de Lafayette with graffiti and Palestinian flags.
‘Biden, we will remember in November,’ read one of the signs on the sculpture.
Other notable statues that caught the ire of protestors included Benjamin Franklin and Andrew Jackson.
The morning of the protest, the Edlavitch DC Jewish Community Center’s Jen Zwilling emailed members warning engagement could ‘increase the potential for violence or anti-Semitic rhetoric’, according to the Guardian.
The outlet added that many Jewish groups advised their memberships against counter-protesting or engaging with the march.
Rapper Macklemore made a surprise appearance on stage to whip up the crowd before the march began, although he admitted he may not be the most ‘qualified’ person to chime in.
‘They told me to be quiet, they told me to do my research, to go back, that it’s too complex to say something, to be silent in this moment,’ said the ‘Thrift Shop’ artist, real name Benjamin Hammond Haggerty.
‘In the last three weeks, I’ve gone back and I have done some research, I’m teachable… I don’t know everything, but I know enough to know that this is a genocide.’
Around the same time the rapper delivered his remarks, dramatic aerial images showed the streets of DC filled to the brim with protestors.
The significant number of people that made it to the nation’s capital for the Saturday demonstrations was bolstered by pro-Palestine supporters being transported on hired buses from across the US, according to the protest’s organizers.
A fervent anti-government rhetoric was seen throughout the day’s demonstrations, with many protesters accusing the US of enabling war crimes.
One placard bore a picture of Biden with blood soaked hands, which read: ‘Gaza has become a graveyard for children, with one killed every ten minutes.’
Orthodox and other Jews were among those who lent their support to the protest, bearing banners which read: ‘Judaism condemns Zionist terrorism in Gaza’.
‘By the millions, we’ll be back,’ the crowd chanted at one stage, as another activist appeared to hold a sign supporting the Hamas attacks reading, ‘Resistance is justified when people are occupied.’
Further protests were also organized across the US and the world, including in London, New York and Berlin.
Amid growing scrutiny over his response to the conflict, President Biden called for a ‘humanitarian pause’ to allow resources to reach innocent civilians trapped in war torn Gaza.
As he delivered his statement, Rabbi Jessica Rosenberg heckled the president and declared: ‘As a rabbi, I need you to call for a ceasefire right now.’
Biden stopped short of suggesting a full ceasefire, but backed a break to allow humanitarian aid in and movement of prisoners, the White House clarified.
His comments, made in the wake of declining support for the strikes following reports of refugee camps and churches being hit, mark a departure from previous commitments to not dictate Israel’s military policy.